Animal ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior. A scientist who practices ethology is called an ethologist. Differences and similarities with comparative psychology Ethology can be contrasted with comparative psychology, which also studies animal behaviour, but construes its study as a branch of psychology. Thus where comparative psychology sees the study of animal behaviour in the context of what is known about human psychology, ethology sees the study of animal behaviour in the context of what is known about animal anatomy and physiology. Furthermore, early comparative psychologists concentrated on the study of learning, and thus tended to look at behaviour in artificial situations, whereas early ethologists concentrated on behaviour in natural situations, tending to describe it as instinctive. The two approaches are complementary rather than competitive, but they do lead to different perspectives and sometimes to conflicts of opinion about matters of substance. In addition, for most of the twentieth century comparative psychology developed most strongly in North America, while ethology was stronger in Europe, and this led to different emphases as well as somewhat different philosophical underpinnings in the two disciplines. A practical difference is that comparative psychologists concentrated on gaining extensive knowledge of the behaviour of very few species, while ethologists were more interested in gaining knowledge of behaviour in a wide range of species, not least in order to be able to make principled comparisons across taxonomic groups. For more see: Introduction to animal ethology Main areas of study The main areas of study within the discipline include: *Animal innate behavior **Animal defensive behavior **Animal division of labour **Animal drinking behavior **Animal escape behaviour **Animal feeding behaviour **Animal exploratory behavior **Animal grooming behavior **Animal hoarding behavior **Animal instinctive behavior **Animal licking behavior **Animal nocturnal behavior **Animal motivation **Animal predatory behavior **Animal scent marking **Migratory behavior (animal) *Animal open field behavior **Alarm responses **Animal breeding **Animal foraging behavior **Animal homing **Animal locomotion **Animal navigation **Migratory behaviour (animal) *Animal physiological psychology **Animal biological rhythms **Animal circadian rythms **Animal colouration **Animal drinking behavior **Animal emotionality **Animal feeding behavior *Animal sexual behavior **Animal courtship behavior **Animal courtship displays **Animal sex differences **Animal sexual receptivity **Animal mating behavior **Animal mate selection *Animal rearing **Animal maternal behavior - **Animal maternal deprivation - **Animal parental behavior - **Animal paternal behaviour - **Animal play **Nestbuilding *Animal social behavior **Animal defensive behavior **Animal distress calls **Animal dominance **Animal communication **Animal vocalizations **Species recognition **Territorality *Animals and man **Animal assisted therapy - **Animal breeding **Animal captivity **Animal domestication **Animal human interaction **Animal rearing **Pets **Interspecies interaction ----- See also *Alarm responses *Animal environments *Animal motivation *Biological symbiosis *Echolocation *Fossil behavior *Hibernation *Instinctive behavior *Imprinting *Licking *Species common behaviors *Stereotyped behavior *Tool use References & Bibliography Key texts Books *Bekoff, M (2004) Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 3vols. Greenwood Press. *Grzimek, B.(1977), Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Ethology *McFarland, D.(1999). Animal Behaviour: Psychobiology, Ethology and Evolution. Longman. ISBN: 0582327326 ISBN: 9780582327320 Papers Additional material Books *Drickamer, L. & Dewsbury, D. ( ), Leaders in Animal Behaviour. The Second Generation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521741293 *Dewsbury, D. A. (1978) Habits and behaviour of Animals : McGraw-Hill,New York ; London. ISBN: 0070166730 Papers External links *Animal Behavior Abstracts - A Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Database covering all aspects of animal behaviour, including neurophysiology, behavioral ecology, genetics, applied ethology and other related areas.From !982 onwards *Wikibook on animal behavior Category:Animal psychology